Aaron Philo has spent his football career working toward an opportunity like this.
On Monday, that opportunity became official when Florida named the Georgia Tech transfer its starting quarterback for the season opener.
Philo met with the media Tuesday afternoon and made it clear he understands the responsibility that comes with the job.
“I’m honored, and I don’t take it lightly at all. I don’t take this position for granted at all,” Philo said. “It’s something that I’ve worked my whole life to get to. And so, I definitely don’t take it lightly, and I’m gonna do everything in my power to bring Florida back.”
The Bogart, Georgia, native battled redshirt freshman quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. throughout the offseason in what was a close competition. Despite being named Florida’s Week 1 starter, Philo knows his mindset can’t change. He still has to stay hungry and continue to perform to retain the job.
“Tramell pushes me each and every day,” Philo said. “So I understand that I have to go out there and I have to perform, and practicing with him each and every day, like, he pushes me to be my best each and every day, and he’s a great player, and having that, it pushes me to be better.”
This was Philo’s first true quarterback competition since his sophomore year of high school. Throughout the offseason, he focused on blocking out the outside noise and keeping his attention on what he could control.
“I think it’s just putting your head down and going to work each and every day, and when you have guys to push you, we competed our butts off, and it was a battle, man, and that just pushes each of us to be better, and it pushed me to be better,” Philo said.
Philo and Jones have developed a strong relationship both on and off the field. Philo has genuine confidence in Jones’ ability to lead the Gators, and the two have leaned on each other throughout the competition.
“I feel like we could both go out there and we could both win games for this football program. And I’m extremely confident in him, and I think he’s confident in me, and, like, when we have each other, we can watch film together, you know, ask each other what we saw, and, like, it’s just – it’s nice to have each other.”
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner has noted that to play quarterback for him, you have to be the toughest player in the building, both mentally and physically.
Philo believes he embodies those qualities.
“You got to be able to shrug things off. Things aren’t always going to go the way that you want them to go. That comes with the mentally tough part. You just got to be able to move on from things. Things aren’t always going to go the way you wanted to go,” Philo said. “And then physically, you got to be able to take hits, and you got to be able to get up, and you got to be able to do it again and again and again.”
There were no guarantees when he transferred to Florida. Now, after earning the starting job, Philo knows the work doesn’t stop here.